She replaces Lorna Estep who is retiring from civilian service, the Air Force said.
Watern has been a member of the Senior Executive Service cadre of civilian employees since 2010, and has served as the AFMC director of manpower, personnel and services since 2023.
The command is responsible for equipping the Air Force and has 89,000 military and civilian professionals working for it. Watern and Amanda Stroop, AFMC personnel demonstration programs branch chief, told the Dayton Daily News in 2025 that more than 13,100 AFMC employees work on the base.
“It is a different workforce than maybe what a lot of people think,” Watern told the Dayton Daily News in an August 2025 interview. “Highly specialized.”
Her civilian service has included financial management and acquisition assignments at Wright-Patterson in the F-15, F-22 and Air Combat System program offices as well as in the Acquisition Cost Division.
The command’s previous executive director recently capped 48 years of service with a message to her colleagues: Strive to be a lifelong learner.
“Don’t think you know it all. I’ve been in this for 48 years, and I learn something new every day about our mission, what we do and about life in general,” Estep said in an Air Force release.
Estep had served as AFMC executive director since June 2022, advising the military commander of the command on all aspects of its overall mission.
The executive director serves as the command’s senior civilian, helping to manage and develop a workforce where the Air Force said civilians make up more than 70% of the personnel — the highest percentage among all Air Force major commands.
AFMC is a major Air Force command and just one mission at Wright-Patterson, which is the state’s largest concentration of employment in one location, with about 38,000 military and civilian employees in 2024.
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